Public Service Announcement

In the past 2 days, I've read a disproportionate amount of entries on my f-list talking about how suddenly "down" or "dismal" people feel.

Reminder: What did we do on Saturday night? We set back the clocks. That means, for a lot of folks, their exposure to natural light is now severely and suddenly reduced by an hour.

Now, that's not really long enough to make Seasonal Affective Disorder set in, but it's certainly enough to make you feel blue and off your stride. Just like a string of rainy days, but without the negative ions in the air that make a storm feel invigorating.

So, my suggestions:

Do whatever is your comfort ritual.

Don't feel obligated to go out and party.

Curl up with your fugly-but-soft PJs, a smushy blankie and your bunny slippers. Read an old but favorite book. Watch a favorite movie, but not one that makes you feel down :)

Eat chocolate, drink hot chocolate. Chocolate DOES help. Have an orange, or other citrus fruit.

Take a bath with something that's stinky in a good way. If you don't have a bathtub, get a basin and put the yummy stinky stuff in that, put your feet in nice hot water, and give THEM a treat! You'll get the benefit of something that smells good, your feet will thank you. Hell, make an evening of it and post footbath, slather those feet with gooey lotion and put them in old soft socks.

In that vein, give yourself a mani/pedicure. Doing girly shit is fun!

Snuggle an animal. If you don't have one, snuggle a friend's animal. (AND I DON'T MEAN ANY DOUBLE ENTENDRE BY THAT! ;)) Ask permission first, of course!

Get some extra sleep.

Try and make a point to get outside when the sun IS shining. Take 15 minutes at lunch, sit outside on a bench (even if it's COLD!) and look around. Let the sun's Vitamin D soak into you.

Do some light exercise. Yay, natural endorphins! You don't have to do a lot to get those going - a brisk walk for 10-15 minutes will give you a spark that'll last for hours. Or 15-20 minutes of yoga or stretching!

Something that helps me personally, but it's a matter of choice - I take Evening Primrose Oil supplements at night. Maybe it's a placebo effect, maybe not. *shrug* Works for me!

DON'T:

Listen to angsy music, read angsty fic/books, or watch angsty movies. Right now, you don't need anything to make you feel angsty :)

Let others bring you down. Be sympathetic, but don't identify too much. If you're depressive by nature, it is VERY EASY for others' emotional states to affect you.

Drink a lot of booze. The lift is temporary, but it'll drag you further down. And if you feel bad on a normal day, you'll feel even WORSE on a grey day with a hangover!

Obsess. We all tend to do it, but it really will only drag you further down.

No, I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist - I'm just someone who has fought depression for 20+ years, with varying levels of success :) I'm not adverse to taking meds when I'm VERY down, or getting into some of the worse aspects of it. But not every blue mood is a depressive episode. Sometimes, you just need to break the cycle of a string of bad days.

ETA: I didn't realize I was putting up such..um...wisdom? Maybe I just did this at the right time. But wanted to say - feel FREE to link to it. We all need to help each other!